Rick Perry’s “pro-life” hypocrisy: How Texas sticks it to pregnant women

[DonViejo]

The Texas governor's concern for the well-being of babies has a curious exception. Meet Jessica De Samito

KATIE MCDONOUGH

For all of the political bluster from conservative lawmakers in Texas about women’s health and Rick Perry’s boasts about “protecting life,” the state is a pretty dangerous place to be a pregnant woman. Jessica De Samito is one of those pregnant women. A young veteran who suffers from PTSD and was on parole following a drug possession charge related to her self-medication, De Samito found herself using opiates earlier this year to manage her ongoing PTSD, but sought treatment when she discovered she was pregnant. She soon found a treatment program, and had been undergoing methadone maintenance treatment — which is medically recommended for opioid dependent pregnant women — since then.

But De Samito knew that she would test positive in a drug screening because she had used opiates before she was able to enroll in treatment, and she knew that might compromise her parole. As it turned out, she was right. This week, the Guadalupe County Jail revoked her parole as a result of the positive screen, and De Samito was put in jail while 24 weeks pregnant. For two days, she was denied her methadone treatment.

The decision to disrupt De Samito’s methadone treatment was cruel, but it was also incredibly dangerous for her pregnancy. Withdrawal can cause uterine contractions, miscarriage and early labor, which is why consistency in treatment is so important. Finally — as a result of her own advocacy and the help of a team from the National Advocates for Pregnant Women and a Texas-based human rights lawyer named Alicia Perez — she was eventually given her appropriate dosage. But the issue is far from settled.

“She had a hearing on Monday, and the parole panel has 41 days to issue their decision,” Kylee Sunderlin from NAPW told Salon. ”The decision could be to re-incarcerate her, send her to an intermediate sanction facility [a private prison] or release her with stricter supervision. They have 41 days to decide what they’ll ultimately do.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/11/rick_perrys_pro_life_hypocrisy_how_texas_sticks_it_to_pregnant_women/

[blkmusclmachine]

1. They ONLY care about the fetus. Real humans, NOPE, not so much...

[mac56]

2. "We love the babies.... UNTIL they're born!"